Five Things You Do Not Know About Jennifer Lawrence

Photo Credit: Columbia Pictures

February 5th, 2014

Jennifer Lawrence has become a household name since her appearance as Katniss Everdeen in "Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire," based off of the New York Times bestselling series of the same name by Suzanne Collins. Although she kicks some serious butt as Katniss in the movies, these movies are only a small part of her impressive acting career that began with "The Bill Engvall Show" in 2007. She started turning heads when she starred in two independent films, "The Burning Plain" and "Winter's Bone." Yet it was in the gritty, romantic comedy "Silver Linings Playbook" that she finally won herself a much-deserved Oscar for Best Actress. She received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination for her most recent role, Rosalyn Rosenfeld, in "American Hustle." On top of all this undisputed success, she plays Mystique in the X-Men prequels, one of which is slated to air later this year. She is currently filming the second part of "Mockingjay" in what is sure to be an explosive conclusion to the four-movie series. Despite all the things fans do know about Jennifer Lawrence, here are a few things that they may not know.

The first surprising factoid about Jennifer Lawrence is that she was a regular teenage girl with regular teenage crushes on famous celebrities. Like most teenage girls, she fell in love with boy bands and one in particular: 'N Sync. In fact, Justin Timberlake was her first dose of teenage puppy love. Of course, by Lawrence's teenage years, Justin Timberlake was already embarking on his acting career, but it is the 'N Sync Justin Timberlake that she loved the best.

Going back to her younger years, something else fans do not know about Jennifer Lawrence is that she is a country girl. She grew up in Kentucky on a horse farm where she learned to ride at roughly the same time as she started walking and running. Her first pony, Muffin, was not nearly as cuddly as the name implies, but she kept with it and graduated to bigger horses. Her parents actually raised unbroken stallions, so she became an experienced rider. She was thrown from a horse at one point which deformed her tailbone, although that accident did not warrant a trip to the hospital. She still goes back home to Louisville, between movies and rides when she can, although she has not done much of it back in California.

Jennifer Lawrence was not discovered through any love of the limelight but because a model scout happened to see her. She was 14 and on spring break at Union Square in New York City when a modeling scout asked to take pictures of her. Apparently neither mother nor daughter thought this an unusual or creepy request. She went to a few talent agencies where she did cold reads. Both agencies were extremely impressed with her and encouraged her mom to let the 14-year-old Jennifer Lawrence stay the summer in New York City to get into modeling. Although she did some modeling, she did not have a passion for it. A few years later both she and her family found themselves in Los Angeles, where she became a key cast member in a TBS sitcom.

Another thing fans do not know is that Jennifer Lawrence nearly did not get a part in the movie "Winter's Bone" because she was too pretty. Up to this point in her career, she had only played a few minor roles and a regular spot in "The Bill Engvall Show." Of course, she did not take no for an answer. She showed up at the production company in New York with hair that had not been washed for a week, with sweat dripping off of her and with a runny nose. It worked, and she not only starred in the movie but netted her first Oscar nomination.

Finally, Jennifer Lawrence had auditioned for the part of Bella Swan in the "Twilight" series. Although she lost out, she moved on to great things with "The Hunger Games."

Jennifer Lawrence is an interesting individual with some highly-honed acting chops. These interesting factoids only cover a fraction of the person she is. She also loves the movies "Dumb and Dumber" and "Step Brothers" and has "Anchorman" memorized word for word. Her favorite TV show is "Homeland," and she accidentally rear-ended a car because she was distracted by who she thought was Honey Boo Boo.